Legal win against polluters in New Jersey means "more jobs and less cancer."

Sometimes you simply need to go court to protect the health and vitality of your community. Case in point: citizens now have a stricter, enforceable agreement for the clean up of chromium contamination in a densely populated area of Jersey City – only 2.5 miles as the crow flies from downtown Manhattan. Last year, NRDC and two community groups – Interfaith Community Organization (ICO) and GRACO – filed a federal lawsuit to compel PPG Industries (a Pittsburgh-based corporation) – to clean up massive quantities of hexavalent chromium that continues to threaten public health and the environment in this New Jersey neighborhood. Hexavalent chromium is a potent carcinogen and was the toxic villain in the film Erin Brockovich . For more than two decades, officials in New Jersey failed to enforce their orders for PPG to clean up the toxic mess. In short, from the community’s viewp...